Quad-Cities Congressional Delegation Urges Army to Locate New Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal

Letter

Quad-Cities Congressional Delegation Urges Army to Locate New Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal

Members of the Quad-Cities Congressional Delegation today sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army urging him to locate the new Army Contracting Command at the Rock Island Arsenal. Last week, the Army announced it would set up the command at the recommendation of a Pentagon commission led by former acquisition chief Jacques Gansler.

The letter was signed by Reps. Phil Hare (D-IL) and Bruce Braley (D-IA) along with Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

March 3, 2008

The Honorable Pete Geren

Secretary of the Army

101 Army Pentagon

Washington, DC 20310-0101

Dear Secretary Geren:

We are writing about a two-star level, Army Contracting Command proposed as part of the Gansler Commission Report and Committee testimony of December 6, 2007. This command would include two subordinate commands; a one-star Expeditionary Contracting Command (ECC), and a restructured one-star level installation contracting organization.

We strongly support the ECC being located at Rock Island Arsenal (RIA) in Rock Island, Illinois with the Army Sustainment Command (ASC). We believe co-locating the new expeditionary contracting command with the ASC's centralized logistics and contracting functions will ensure seamless support to the warfighter. This synergy will prevent duplication and maximize efficiencies through proximity, and allow the Army to capitalize on capabilities, functionalities, expertise and corporate knowledge at ASC.

The ASC at RIA manages a state-of-the-art operations center and serves as the single logistics integrator and the logistics point of contact for deployed soldiers worldwide. The ASC provides a full compliment of logistics services and management of pre-positioned stocks (supplies and equipment) in-theater through the Army Field Support Brigades. In addition, ASC provides contracting support through the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) contract, and contingency contracting executed by the Army Contracting Support Brigades.

The joint logistics contracting structure at ASC places RIA in a unique position. Management of the LOGCAP contracts has given ACS contracting experience that is not available anywhere else in the Army, and locating ECC at RIA will provide ECC with a trained workforce. Combining logistics and contracting support at ASC has also allowed for better coordination between the two systems, both critical to the military's ability to quickly respond to the needs of warfighters.

There is also sufficient Class A administrative space available at RIA to accommodate the ECC, and would only require minimal to moderate renovation - not new construction. Therefore, locating ECC at RIA would cut down procurement costs for the Army.

As the Army begins to transform contracting operations, we ask that you consider locating the ECC at Rock Island Arsenal for the aforementioned reasons, and request that you inform us about the Army's plans for the proposed Expeditionary Contracting Command.

We appreciate your consideration, and look forward to working with you as this process moves forward.

Sincerely,

PHIL HARE

Member of Congress

BRUCE BRALEY

Member of Congress

DICK DURBIN

United States Senator

BARACK OBAMA

United States Senator

TOM HARKIN

United States Senator

CHUCK GRASSLEY

United States Senator

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